Youth justice system failing vulnerable girls

It is calling for youth offending teams (YOTs) specifically to offer gender-appropriate services.

Debbie Pippard, head of programmes at the Barrow Cadbury Trust, which is co-funding the alliance, says that the pace of change is a real concern and too many YOTs are still failing to act.

“By making quite simple changes, you can improve outcomes. YOTs should give girls the option of a female officer or case worker, which could help develop empathy. We would want to have women-only group sessions so that girls are not competing with boys for attention.”

The alliance plans to bring together good practice examples as a “compelling evidence base to try to speed up the pace of change”.